Fall in agricultural workers in Tamil Nadu

Chennai, May 31 (IANS) Tamil Nadu has registered a fall in the number of people involved in agricultural activities during 2001-2011 as compared to the previous decade, a home ministry official said here Friday.

M.R.V. Krishna Rao, joint director of census operations and controlling officer at the Directorate of Census Operations, said: "Out of 32.9 million total workers, 4.25 million are cultivators and another 9.6 million are agricultural labourers."

"Nearly 42.1 percent of the workers are engaged in agricultural activities (cultivators and agricultural labourers) compared to 49.3 percent in census 2001. During the decade 2001-11, the census results show a fall of about 870,000 in cultivators and an increase of about 970,000 in agricultural labourers," he added.

According to the 2011 census data, the number of male cultivators decreased to 2.7 million from 3.3 million in census 2001. Among the females, the number of cultivators has reduced to 1.52 million in census 2011 form 1.85 million in census 2001.

As per the latest census figures, the population of Tamil Nadu is around 72 million (males and females almost equally divided), up by around 15.6 percent during the decade 2001-2011.

While the population in the rural areas went up by 6.6 percent during the period under review, the growth in urban population was 27 percent.

The population density (population per sq km) of Tamil Nadu as per 2011 census works out to 555, logging an increase of 75 points as compared to 2001 census figures.

The sex ratio, which was 987 in 2001, went up by nine points to 996 in 2011. The sex ratio in rural areas increased to 993 from 992 and in the urban areas it went up to 1,000 from 982.

The child population (0-6 age group) in Tamil Nadu as per 2011 census stands at around 7.4 million (male 3.8 million, female 3.6 million). The child sex ratio (0-6 age group) as per census 2011 is 943 up from 942 as per census 2001.

In respect of literacy rates, Tamil Nadu improved upon its 2001 numbers. As per 2011 census, the number of literates in the state is around 51 million (males 28 million, female 23 million).

Of an increase of 11.3 million literates in the state during 2001-2011, rural areas accounted for 4.2 million and urban areas around 7.1 million.

The literacy rate for the state stands at 80.1 percent logging an increase of around 6.6 percent as compared to the 2001 census figures.

--

Get stories like this on the Yahoo app and discover more every day.Download it now.